Safety capstan



July 14, 1925. 1,546,203

E. C. CLARKE SAFETY CAPSIAN Filed Oct. 10, 1921 Patented July 14, 1925.

UNETED STATES, PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE C. CLARKE, OF CHAMBERSBUBG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO CHAMBERS- 'IBURG ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF CHAMBERSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR IEORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY GAPSTAN.

Application filed October 10, 1921. Serial No. 506,736.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGENE C. CLARKE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, have invented a Safety Capstan, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in capstans, the object of the invention being to provide a safety feature whereby on the occasion of any sudden acceleration of the capstan with respect to the operating member or lever, the said member or lever is automatically released and disengaged from the capstan.

In the attached drawings:

Figure 1, is a section on the line 1-1, Fig. 2, and

Fig. 2, is a side elevation of a capstan made in accordance with my invention.

With reference to the drawings, the cap stan comprises a substantially cylindrical body portion or head 1, having in the present instance a central circular opening 2 for the reception of a shaft or stem to which the capstan is secured. Extending inwardly from the periphery of the body 1 is a plurality of recesses 3, said recesses in the present instance being four in number and being evenly distributed around the periphery of the body. The form of the recesses 3 is clearly shown in Fig.1, there being at one end of the said recesses a circular substantially radial bore 5, from one side of which extends a slot 6. The base of the bore portion 5 of the recess extends inwardly further than does the v slotted portion 6, thereby forming a shoulder 7 the function of which will be brought out hereinafter.

It will also be noticed that the lower portion' 5 of the bore 5 is enlarged on the side opposite the shoulder 7 As indicated in bro-ken lines in Fig. 1, the capstan is intended to be turned by means of a cylindrical capstan lever or bar 8, which is inserted in one of the recesses, with its inner end disposed within the bottom portion 5 of the bore 5, the shoulder 7 functioning as an abutment for the inner end of the lever and permitting the capstan to be turned in the direction of the arrow. Any sudden acceleration in the movement of the capstan over and above that effected through the lever will, on the other hand, result in the inner end of the lever 8 being ejected from the recess, the shoulder 7 acting as a fulcrum about which the lever turns to a position approximately as shown in the drawings in broken lines and designated by the reference character 8, the curved bottom surface of the portion 6 of the recess thereafter functioning after the manner of a cam to throw the inner end of the lever outwardly and clear of the recess.

It will be apparent that considerable modification is possible with no departure from the essential features of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination, a rotatable member having a socket for the radial reception of an operating lever, said socket being so shaped as to move said operating lever from said radial position to a position tangential to the periphery of said rotatable member, when the speed of the rotatable member exceeds that of the operating lever, to effect the ejection of the lever from the socket.

2. A rotatable member having a radially extending boring, said member also having a curved recess extending from the outersurface of said member to said radially extending boring.

3. A rotatable member having a radial boring extending from the periphery thereof, a portion of thelatter being formed to present a curved surface extending inwardly to said boring near the base thereof.

4. A rotatable member having a radial boring extending fro-m the periphery thereof, a portion of the latter being formed to define a curved inwardly extending surface terminating in said boring near the base thereof, the base portion of said boring being enlarged.

5. A rotatable member having a radial boring extending from the periphery thereof for the removable reception of a bar, a portion of the periphery being formed to define a curved inwardly extending surface terminating in said boring near the base thereof, the shoulder formed by the boring and the inwardly extending surface delining one bearing point for the bar and the opposite boring wall the otherbearing point.

6'. A rotatable member having a radial boring for the removable reception of a bar, said boring extending from the periphery thereof and provided with an enl for the bar and the opposite boring Wall ri'ortioiiz, i"iijolftimifiif'tho j:f) 1" f tMf-lILbOVB "rid eiflarymf base portion the other men-reel. being formed to defmea euma iii-1- bearing peint; w vherebggwvhen the relative 0 wardly extending surface terminating in movement of the rotatable member and bar 5 said boring near the base thereof, the shoulh nges, the latter is ejected fr0m the der formed by the boring and the inwardly former extending surface defining one bearing point EUGENE '6. CLARKE. 

